Maersk Oil Trading and Koole Terminals have agreed to produce IMO 2020-compliant bunker fuel, with production expected to cover 5-10 per cent of Maersk’s annual demand.
The production will take place at the the Petrochemical Industrial Distillation (PID) unit, located at Koole’s Botlek site at the Port of Rotterdam.
The toll distillation deal allows Maersk to produce VLSFO bunker fuel and will enable Maersk to further expand its bunker supply volumes in Europe.
Niels Henrik Lindegaard, head of Maersk Oil Trading at A.P. Moller – Maersk, said: “The fuel manufacturing process allows Maersk to produce compatible low sulphur fuels that complies with the IMO 2020 sulphur cap implementation, reducing the need to rely on 0.1 per cent price-based gasoil and fuel oil outside the ECA zones.
“Our activities with Koole will be an important driver in ensuring stable, reliable services for Maersk’s customers during a potentially volatile period for global shipping.”
The IMO 2020 0.5 per cent sulphur fuel cap will be implemented globally as of January 1, 2020. Bunker fuels within the Emission Control Area (ECA) zones will remain at the current cap of 0.1 per cent sulphur. Koole’s PID unit will also enable Maersk the possibility to produce such ECA 0.1 per cent sulphur fuel.
John Kraakman, CEO of Koole Terminals, said: “Koole Terminals continues to explore opportunities to contribute to a sustainable society. One of the initiatives is to utilize our PID unit for producing environmentally friendly transportation fuels.”
